Rating: 
Summary: The Best
Review: One of the best I've played. v1.03 seems to be bug-free. You'll wind up staying up too late once you get started with it.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT GAME
Review: I searched for online games and this came up, it is NOT an online game its a RPG, but a great one!!! Honestly what RPG'er isnt a Star Wars fan...I dont know any, but what a great game this was!!
Rating:
Summary: The first playable cRPG in over a decade
Review: Over the course of the last ten years, I've bought just about every PC RPG that's had any remmendations behind it whatsoever -- from Diablo to Baldur's Gate to Planescape: Torment to Morrowind to Baldur's Gate II to Diablo II to Neverwinter Nights, the list goes on and on. And yet not *one* of these games was capable of grabbing my interest. Like a gambler throwing it all away I knew that my luck was going to change sometime. When I picked up Knights of the Old Republic, it did.I didn't have high expectations going in. After all, the game was based on the Neverwinter Nights engine and that game was a snorefest. Likewise, I had no existing affection for the Star Wars movies, books, or other games -- I've never even watched all three movies in more than bits and pieces, and all out of sequence. The box didn't exactly promise much, either. But once I began playing, I was absolutely blown away by this game. Well, not perhaps not at the very beginning, but within the first few hours, most certainly. The game grew on me as no game has in the twenty-plus years I've been an avid gamer -- I was playing KotOR upwards of eight hours a day. The storyline wasn't astonishingly deep, but it was personal and relevant in the way that Baldur Gate II's deteached plot could never hope to be. I cared about these characters; they weren't just little sprites (or polygonal models, in this case) on a screen. The characters reacted to what happened around them, and there were clear consequences for your choices (unlike Morrowind, where everyone says exactly the same thing and doesn't care if assassins attack in their house). The developers had a clear concept in mind and it shows, despite the occasional bugs (which are nowhere near as problematic as Morrowind's). The NPC AI is decent, the characters more than one-dimensional, the storyline engaging, the battle-system (based on the D&D 3e [d20] system, albeit simplified) somewhat strategic, and the overall experience very enjoyable. When I reached the end of the game for the first time, 35 hours in, I only regretted that the game was so *short* -- and yet I've never had so many quality hours with a computer/console RPG before. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the best electronic RPG since the Gold Box games of the late 80s, but a game that is also accessable to a new generation of players. Kudos to the Bioware team for a fantastic product.
Rating:
Summary: Do Not Buy This Game...
Review: At Least not unless you want to spend every waking hour of every day for a couple of weeks playing it. Frankly, the few Star Wars games I've blad have been garbage. In fact, since Empire Strikes Back, the movie series has been mostly garbage. I feel similarly about most RPGs. Haven't really got into more than 2 or 3 since the dreaded Gold Box series. I bought this game mostly because a few people I knew had raved about it when it came out on the XBox. The graphics are solid, the voice acting top notch, and the story and characters are far more engaging and multi-dimensional than anything Lucas concocted for Episodes I & II. The game plays like part adventure, part RPG, which is part of the charm. The plot is deep, and engaging, yet the game loses some of its scripted feel with somewhat open ended gameplay, which keeps it fresh. The best part of the game, in my mind, is the game's clear focus on dark side and light side, and how your actions and words guide you down one path. Forget the words of people who whine about RPGs and replay ability. I'd never seen an RPG I wanted to play more than once prior to KOTOR. This one, however, you'll want to play twice. Play it once dark side and once light. For more fun, play it as female and male, and enjoy the differences in interaction with the romantic lead. All in all a clever game, and I greatly look forward to the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have Game
Review: When I first started playing this game, I thought "WOW!" This has to be one of the best if not the best game that I have ever played. The storyline is unique and can be different everytime you play (although major events do not change). The game is filled with characters who react to words you say as well as actions you do. The light and dark side choice allows for massive replayabilty which makes up for a missing multiplayer mode. The sound was excellent and dialogs excellent. There are a few bugs in the game but don't let that stop you from buying the Game of the Year. Its not just for Star Wars fans. P.S. Look for the sequel later this year!
Rating:
Summary: Best *experience* I ever had in gaming
Review: This is an awesome game. Period. In many ways, this game redefines the role playing genre. What is very unique about this game is that it has a very rich story. Probably one of the best Star Wars stories ever. This is the first game I have ever played where I simply kept going because I wanted to see what happens next. And I can guarantee you that there will be plot twists you will never be expecting! Also, the game features some of the most memorable game characters ever. Way to go, HK-47! The game also makes great use of character-shaping techniques. Are you going to evolve along the light side of the force, or is the dark side too tempting? Are you going to change your mind half way through? Many special abilities can be aquired, turning characters into very unique beings. And then of course, there is the choice of your party members: Do you want the strong wookie to help you out, or would you rather have a violent droid with you? Or perhaps a Jedi knight whom you just saved from the dark side? Or is it all just a trap? The choices you make throughout this game have a great impact. In fact, this is problably the first game ever that I will play through a second time! Dark side, here I come...
Rating: 
Summary: Oustanding gameplay, mediocre story, stability
Review: Having played Bioware's Baldur's Gate (BG) series, and having read so many favorable reviews of this game, I had great expectations of SW:KotOR. I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed...mostly. Where the game really shines is in the gameplay and the graphics. If you've played the BG games, you're used to a 2-D, top-down isometric view of the world. This game, however, has 3-D views - you can rotate the camera around your character to get a 3-dimensional view of your environment (you can't look up and down or zoom, though). Even though it sounds minor, it makes a huge difference in realism. To accompany this, if you have a powerful system, you can turn up the graphical details and enjoy some lovely scenery. Overall, the immersion factor was fantastic. Further, the gameplay was excellent. The implementation of the D&D rules in the Star Wars setting was very nicely done, and most gameplay aspects - character interaction (through semi-cinematic animation sequences), object interaction (through on-screen menus) and combat (based on a turn-based, "action queue" model) felt very smooth and natural. The provided combat AI scripts are somewhat buggy and can sometimes interfere with your character's actions, but on the whole, the combat system works very well. So the gameplay was great, but did it have a great story to build on? Sadly, no. If you're expecting Planescape:Torment or even Baldur's Gate fare, you won't find it here. This is a very simple, sharply drawn, good-vs-evil, savior-of-galaxy-defeats-ruthless-conqueror story. To be honest, it is possible to play an alternate path, where you develop your main character as an evil character. There is even some plot justification for doing this. However, the story is more coherent if you play the good hero. Most of the main plot is very linear and depressingly standard: evil guy has found means of destroying galaxy, go find what he's found, then destroy it. In truth, I found the sidequests tended to be more interesting than the main quest. In particular, the conversations with your party members (and those they had between themselves) were very enjoyable and did a great job of fleshing them out as individuals with their own histories and agendas. The voice acting was uniformly excellent, further enhancing the character interaction sequences. In general, the sound effects (and music) were very good throughout, and did a great job matching the mood of the game. The one area where the game has problems is stability. One would expect that, a year after release, stability problems would have been fixed. This is not the case. The game is prone to crashes. It is in fact the only game I have that can crash my Windows XP system so I need to reboot. It also has the annoying habit of crashing on occasion while quicksaving. Imagine playing for 2 hours using quicksave and then ending up with a corrupted quicksave. Ouch. But this is more of a heads-up than a censure; given its otherwise great features, there is really no reason not to buy this game. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Bland
Review: I'm not sure what this game is meant to be. It claims to be an RPG, and it certainly bears some of the characteristics of that genre. There are stats, but they are mostly hidden, appearing only when levelling up or examining equipment capabilities. There are three different career paths to choose at the start, each of which affects the gameplay in subtle ways. Multi-threaded conversations, litter your path to success, and through choosing your actions you can develop a dark side, or a light side, eventually ending up as a Jedi (of course). But why does it feel like I'm playing someone's idea of RPG-lite? The game has been very popular, picking up great user and pundit reviews all over the place, and it's this fact that gives away the plot. This is an RPG that people who never played an RPG before can play without it taxing their trigger happy brains too much. The big problem with RPG's is that they are up against the expectations of a marketplace swamped by first person shoot 'em ups (like Half Life and it's thousand clones). Where many RPG's come a cropper is when the combat starts. Given the design constraints and resource allocation problems in any RPG, it's difficult to produce a game that does everything an RPG has to do, and gives a satisfying combat experience. So, BioWare have cleverly avoided the entire issue by taking combat out of the player's hands and giving it to the computer to sort out. Spot an enemy and your team goes into fight mode. On the default setting the game pauses, supposedly to let the player "issue orders", but the player can change this so that the team just begins attacking without any player input. This allows the combat to be more or less scripted. The play can always be paused to issue an order to use a med kit or chuck a grenade, but it takes so long for your character to do this that by the time the action is carried out the order is no longer likely to be appropriate. It's a clever solution, and it lends the game a very unique dynamic. It's not quite the tactical cerebral experience that a true turn based game provides, where med packs are always used in time and shots are always fired under the player's control. Neither is it the adrenalin soaked rush of the average shooter. In fact, the truth is it's neither one thing nor the other, and whilst that might appeal to those who are looking for something different it will test the enthusiasm of large numbers of RPG fans. I've read a lot about how good the graphics are in this game. I'm not sure I understand what people are talking about. When compared to the likes of FarCry, KOTOR looks positively bland. The levels are all quite small, requiring short loading screens between each one, but there is very little going on to make the player stop and stare. Exploration is decidedly linear, with each planet being a self contained unit. This has more of the feel of an adventure game than a true RPG, and the free roaming style of Morrowind and Gothic 2 has been replaced by a controlled limitation on freedom of movement. No chance here to examine each nook and cranny at leisure. You follow the script, in the set order, or you don't progress. That's not to say there aren't any options in the manner of progressing. You can adopt a variety of strategies - well, two really. You can talk, or you can fight. But because character interaction is fairly scripted, there's little in the way of opportunity to develop a coherent and personal strategy for progress. The interface seems a little clumsy too, especially the inventory system, which is unnecessarily complex, with separate character and team inventories that don't really want to co-exist easily. I counted several more mouse clicks than was strictly needed to change from one weapon to another. If you can get it running OK, then this is an average game. I can only imagine it has such a high profile because it has that ever so sought after Star Wars license, but without that branding I have to suggest that this game wouldn't be setting anyone's world on fire. Competent, but not innovative.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it well enough
Review: I feel incredably stupid for buying this game at the full price while it is a wonderfully enjoyable game I fell into the trap of a lot of people appaently. I am not an RPG kind of guy and when comparing the two I think I prefer Jedi Outcast. However this game is not without its high points the charecters are interesting(espically the interaction between the NPC Jolee Bingo and Canderous the Mandelorian in particular) However once you work out all the chinks in your own gameplay the game is not really worth it. Excellent on the first run through but I think the replay value suffers. Overall-While I was not entirly hapy with my purchase I did like it a great deal and the plotline was better than episodes I and II put together. I will definatly buy the sequal
Rating:
Summary: I hate Star Wars ... but I loved this game
Review: I picked this game up on the advice of Star Wars-loving friends who assured me that I too would adore this game. I don't like FPS games; I'm more a D&D RPG sort of person. Also, although the movies aren't bad, Star Wars games until now have been uniformly lame. So I was dubious, but they were right.
First, the storyline is great. Although it starts out very linear, you soon have a multitude of potential quests. You pick up several NPCs and they have quests and personalities as well. You have the option to play an evil Jedi and thus be able to use dark powers more easily. Your choices for good or evil actually affect the storyline.
Second, the game play allows some time for deliberation. Although the fights are real time, you can plan your moves two or three in advance. This allowed for fast game play without requiring that I master any particular arcane set of controls.
Finally, there are so many different quests to do and skills to acquire that you can actually play the game through twice without getting too bored. Since there aren't enough good RPGs out there to satisfy my appetite, I appreciate the chance to squeeze as much enjoyment as possible from the good ones. If you like RPGs and don't have this game yet, I would definitely advise you to get it.
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